ODOE Publishes Draft Oregon Energy Security Plan
The Oregon Department of Energy is working on a new Energy Security Plan for the state that will identify risks to our electricity, liquid fuel, and natural gas/propane systems — and propose ways to mitigate those risks. ODOE published a draft version of the plan on September 30, and will soon kick off a public engagement effort to gather stories and data from all regions, economic sectors, Tribal Nations, and walks of life to seek feedback on the plan.
Securing and improving the resilience of energy infrastructure in the face of man-made and natural disasters has been a priority of the State of Oregon for more than a decade. Studies, reports, and plans have been developed by ODOE and other agencies to address threats and hazards to the region’s electricity, liquid fuels, and natural gas systems. In addition, government and private sector knowledge base and experience in responding to real world emergencies have grown.
Yet, there has not been a single compiled plan or document that the state can use to accurately assess Oregon’s energy security status and provide a roadmap to achieving energy security and resilience. The Oregon Energy Security Plan will fill this need. ODOE developed a draft for the U.S. Department of Energy in September. It includes foundational state-level information critical to energy security, including:
Agencies and organizations that play a role in energy security.
Overview of the emergency preparedness and response structure for all events affecting Oregon.
Coordination with federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector partners, including neighboring states.
Overview of Oregon’s energy profile and supply chains.
Summary of known energy sector threats and mitigation strategies to reduce risk.
While the plan is intended to be a living document, a final Oregon Energy Security Plan must be completed by September 30, 2024 and submitted to the U.S. DOE and the Oregon Legislature.
Get Involved — Join us october 16
To ensure the plan serves all Oregonians, ODOE will hold virtual and hybrid meetings in each Oregon region. Stakeholders are also encouraged to submit comments and express interest in getting involved through our online portal. The portal will prompt you to enter your contact information – then then you can select a topic, choose your region, use the comment box to submit comments or self-identify as an environmental justice organization, and select whether you would like to receive email updates. You can also sign up for email updates here.
ODOE will hold an Energy Security Plan kickoff webinar on Monday, October 16, 2023 at 12:30 p.m.
More information, including how to log on to join the meeting, is available on ODOE’s website.
Additional Background
Oregon has talented and dedicated scientists and emergency planners working to assess and develop plans to respond and recover from emergencies. As our knowledge and experience have expanded, planning progress has not necessarily been compiled in an intentional and holistic way, and data gaps may remain. To complete the 2024 Oregon Energy Security Plan, ODOE will bring together existing relevant threat information for electricity, liquid fuels, and natural gas systems and collect new data to fill any identified data gaps. The goal is then to use this comprehensive dataset to complete a quantified risk assessment of all threats to Oregon's energy systems. This effort requires extensive stakeholder engagement.
After conducting the risk assessment and analysis of threats to Oregon's energy systems, ODOE will propose a suite of prioritized mitigation options that can be implemented in the future to reduce risk and improve Oregon's energy security. It is the agency's vision that the mitigation options will be an investment plan to Oregon's energy security future.
ODOE's goal is to use the federal funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide a resource that links existing plans together and identifies, documents, and discusses risks to Oregon's energy systems. Once the data is collected, the state, local governments, and Tribes — in collaboration with energy providers, nonprofit organizations, and all Oregonians — can better prepare for supply disruptions and make more informed decisions related to energy systems and infrastructure investments, resilience and hardening strategies, and asset management. The desired outcome of the final plan is a toolset that can allow Oregon to make investment decisions that reduce risk and help prevent, respond to, and recover from events that cause insecurity to the state's energy systems.